Historia de la Thelema

Historia

Although officially founded at the beginning of the 20th century
e.v., O.T.O. represents a surfacing and confluence of the divergent
streams of esoteric wisdom and knowledge which were originally
divided and driven underground by political and religious intolerance
during the dark ages. It draws from the traditions of the Freemasonic,
Rosicrucian and Illuminist movements of the 18th and 19th centuries,
the crusading Knights Templars of the middle ages and early Christian
Gnosticism and the Pagan Mystery Schools. Its symbolism contains
a reunification of the hidden traditions of the East and the West,
and its resolution of these traditions has enabled it to recognize
the true value of Aleister Crowley's revelation of The Book of
the Law.

Carl Kellner

The Spiritual Father of Ordo Templi Orientis was Carl Kellner
(Renatus, Sept. 1, 1851 - June 7, 1905), a wealthy Austrian
paper chemist. Kellner was a student of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism
and Eastern mysticism, and traveled extensively in Europe,
America and Asia Minor. During his travels, he claims to have
come into contact with three Adepts (a Sufi, Soliman ben Aifa,
and two Hindu Tantrics, Bhima Sena Pratapa of Lahore and Sri
Mahatma Agamya Paramahamsa), and an organization called the
Hermetic Brotherhood of Light.

In 1885, Kellner met the Theosophical and Rosicrucian scholar,
Dr. Franz Hartmann (1838 - 1912). He and Hartmann later collaborated
on the development of the "ligno-sulphite" inhalation
therapy for tuberculosis, which formed the basis of treatment at
Hartmann's sanitarium near Saltzburg. During the course of his
studies, Kellner believed that he had discovered a "Key" which
offered a clear explanation of all the complex symbolism of Freemasonry,
and, Kellner believed, opened the mysteries of Nature. Kellner
developed a desire to form an Academia Masonica which would enable
all Freemasons to become familiar with all existing Masonic degrees
and systems.

Academia Masonica

In 1895, Kellner began to discuss his idea for founding an Academia
Masonica with his associate Theodor Reuss (Merlin or Peregrinus,
June 28, 1855 - Oct. 28, 1923). During these discussions, Kellner
decided that the Academia Masonica should be called the "Oriental
Templar Order." The occult inner
circle of this Order (O.T.O. proper) would be organized parallel to the highest
degrees of the Memphis and Mizraim Rites of Masonry, and would teach the
esoteric Rosicrucian doctrines of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light, and
Kellner's "Key" to Masonic symbolism. Both men and women would
be admitted at all levels to this Order, but possession of the various degrees
of Craft and High-Grade Freemasonry would be a prerequisite for admission
to the Inner Circle of O.T.O.

Unfortunately, due to the regulations of the established Grand
Lodges which governed Regular Masonry, women could not be made
Masons and would therefore be excluded by default from membership
in the Oriental Templar Order. This may have been one of the reasons
that Kellner and his associates resolved to obtain control over
one of the many rites, or systems, of Masonry; to reform the system
for the admission of women.

The discussions between Reuss and Kellner did not lead to any
positive results at the time, because Reuss was very busy with
a revival of the Order of Illuminati along with his associate Leopold
Engel (1858-1931) of Dresden. Kellner did not approve of the revived
Illuminati Order or of Engel. According to Reuss, upon his final
separation with Engel in June of 1902, Kellner contacted him and
the two agreed to proceed with the establishment of the Oriental
Templar Order by seeking authorizations to work the various rites
of high-grade Masonry.

John Yarker

Masonic Foundations

Theodor Reuss, in addition to being the head of his revival of
the Bavarian Order of Illuminati, was also the Grand Master of
the Swedenborgian Rite of Freemasonry in Germany (charter dated
July 26, 1901 from W. Wynn Wescott), Special Inspector for the
Martinist Order in Germany (charter dated June 24, 1901 from
Gérard Encausse), and Magus of the High Council in Germania
of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (letter of authorization dated Feb.
24, 1902 from W. Wynn Wescott). With Kellner's assistance, Reuss applied
to English Masonic scholar, John Yarker (1833-1913), to purchase charters
to operate three systems of high-grade Freemasonry known as the Antient and
Primitive Rite of Memphis of 97°, the Ancient Oriental Rite of Mizraim
of 90°, and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of 33° (Cernau
Council of New York, 1807).

Reuss received letters-patent as a Sovereign Grand Inspector General
33° of the Cernau Scottish Rite from Yarker dated September
24, 1902. According to a published transcript, Yarker issued on
the same date a warrant to Reuss, Franz Hartmann and Henry Klein
to operate a Sovereign Sanctuary 33°-95° of the Scottish,
Memphis and Mizraim rites. Yarker issued a second charter confirming
Reuss's authority to operate said rites on July 1, 1904; and Reuss
published a transcript of an additional confirming charter dated
June 24, 1905. Reuss commenced publication of a masonic journal,
The Oriflamme, in 1902.

These rites, along with the Swedenborgian Rite, were adopted as
integral elements within the overall scheme of the Order. The Swedenborgian
Rite included a version of the Craft degrees, and the Cernau Scottish
Rite and the Rites of Memphis and Mizraim provided a selection
of the workable "high grades" as nearly complete as had
ever existed. Together, they provided a complete system of Masonic
initiation at the disposal of the Order. With the incorporation
of these rites, the Order was enabled to operate as a completely
independent Masonic system. Reuss and Kellner together prepared
a brief manifesto for their Order in 1903, which was published
the next year in The Oriflamme. Kellner died on June 7, 1905, and
Reuss assumed full control of the Order. With the assistance of
co-founders Franz Hartmann and Heinrich Klein, Reuss prepared a
Constitution for the Order in 1906.

Theodor Reuss

O.T.O. Under Reuss
Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925), who was at the time the Secretary General of the
German branch of the Theosophical Society, was chartered in 1906 as Deputy
Grand Master of a subordinate O.T.O./Memphis/Mizraim Chapter and Grand Council
called "Mystica Aeterna" in Berlin. Steiner went on to found the
Anthroposophical Society in 1912, and ended his association with Reuss in
1914.

On June 24, 1908, Dr. Gérard Encausse (Papus, 1865-1916)
organized an "International Masonic and Spiritualist Conference" in
Paris, which Reuss attended. At this conference, Encausse received,
for no money, a patent from Reuss to establish a "Supreme
Grand Council General of the Unified Rites of Antient and Primitive
Masonry for the Grand Orient of France and its Dependencies at
Paris." The year before, Encausse, along with Jean Bricaud
(1881-1934) and Louis-Sophrone Fugairon (b. 1846), had organized
l'Église Catholique Gnostique, the Gnostic Catholic Church,
as a schism of l'Église Gnostique, a neo-Albigensian church
founded in Paris in 1890 by Jules Doinel (1842-1903). It is believed
that Reuss received episcopal consecration and primatial authority
in l'Église Catholique Gnostique from Encausse and Bricaud
at this conference. Encausse's involvement in O.T.O., per se, is
unclear.

Also at this conference, Dr. Arnold Krumm-Heller (Huiracocha,
1879-1949) was chartered as Reuss's official representative for
Latin America. Krumm-Heller developed his own order called Fraternitas
Rosicruciana Antiqua (F.R.A.). According to his son, Parsival,
he never founded any O.T.O. Lodges, initiated any members into
O.T.O., or appointed any O.T.O. officers.

O.T.O. Under Reuss and Crowley
As a journalist, Reuss travelled frequently to England. On one such trip, he
met Aleister Crowley (Baphomet, Oct. 12, 1875 - Dec. 1, 1947), whom he admitted
to the three degrees of O.T.O. in 1910. On April 21, 1912, Reuss issued a
charter to Crowley, for no money, appointing him National Grand Master General
X° of O.T.O. for Great Britain and Ireland. Crowley's appointment included
authority over an English language rite of the lower (Masonic) degrees of
O.T.O. which was given the name "Mysteria Mystica Maxima," or MMM.

On June 1, 1912, a National Grand Lodge for the Slavonic Countries
was established under Czeslaw Czynski. Franz Hartmann died on August
7, 1912. In September of 1912, Reuss published the "Jubilee
Edition" of the Oriflamme, which was the first issue of the
Oriflamme to discuss O.T.O. in any detail, and it was almost entirely
devoted to O.T.O. matters. Kellner, Reuss and Crowley were listed
as X° members of O.T.O. Also in 1912, Crowley published the
Manifesto of the MMM, in which MMM was identified as the British
Section of the O.T.O., which "includes all countries where
English is generally spoken." O.T.O. was described in this
document as

...a body of initiates in whose hands are concentrated the wisdom
and knowledge of the following bodies:
The Gnostic Catholic Church.
The Order of the Knights of the Holy Ghost.
The Order of the Illuminati.
The Order of the Temple.
The Order of the Knights of St. John.
The Order of the Knights of Malta.
The Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Hidden Church of the Holy Grail.
The Rosicrucian Order.
The Holy Order of Rose Croix of Heredom.
The Order of the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch.
The Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry (33 degrees).
The Rite of Memphis (97 degrees).
The Rite of Mizraim (90 degrees).
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry (33 degrees).
The Swedenborgian Rite of Masonry.
The Order of the Martinists.
The Order of the Sat Bhai.
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
and many other orders of equal merit, if of less fame. It does not include
the AA with which august Body it is, however, in close alliance.
The Manifesto of the MMM also gave the following scheme of organization for
the Order:
O Minerval
I M.
II M..
III M
PM
IV Companion of the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch.
Prince of Jerusalem.
Knight of the East and of the West.
V Sovereign Prince of Rose Croix. (Knight of the Pelican and Eagle.)
Member of the Senate of Knight Hermetic Philosophers Knights of the Red Eagle.
VI Illustrious Knight (Templar) of the Order of Kadosch, and Companion of the
Holy Graal.
Grand Inquisitor Commander, Member of the Grand Tribunal.
Prince of the Royal Secret.
VII Very Illustrious Sovereign Grand Inspector General.
Member of the Supreme Grand Council.
VIII Perfect Pontiff of the Illuminati.
IX Initiate of the Sanctuary of the Gnosis.
X Rex Summus Sanctissimus (Supreme and Most Holy King).

The September, 1912 issue of the Oriflamme included a similar
listing of a ten-degree system:

Thus, by 1912, Crowley and Reuss had condensed the system of Craft
and high-grade Freemasonry into a workable system of ten numbered
degrees which incorporated the teachings and symbolism of a number
of additional occult and mystical societies. Kellner's three degree
Academia Masonica formed the VII°, VIII° and IX° of
this system. The tenth degree (X°), "Rex Summus Sanctissimus," or "Supremus
Rex," designated the National Grand Master General of O.T.O.
for a particular country, region, or linguistic group. The ultimate
authority in the Order worldwide was vested in the Frater Superior
or Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.).

The National Grand Masters General had the authority to appoint
their own representatives, called "Viceroys," in other
countries with the same dominant language. Viceroys could also
be accorded the X° by the O.H.O. The National Grand Masters
General were expected to conduct the business of O.T.O. in accordance
with the O.T.O. Constitution, but largely without day-to-day supervision
by the international headquarters or "Central Office."

The Manifesto of the MMM included photographs of Crowley's manor-house
in Scotland, called Boleskine, which served as a "Profess-House" of
the Order. It also included a list of dues and fees for each degree,
as well as a list of "affiliation fees," whereby Freemasons
could affiliate directly at the level corresponding to their own
degree in Masonry. These lists were reprinted in the 1914 issue
of the Oriflamme, along with the degree titles from Crowley's Manifesto
translated into German.

In 1912, the system of O.T.O., despite its various influences,
remained principally Masonic. In the Jubilee Edition of the Oriflamme,
Reuss stated that O.T.O. "is not a masonic order, pure and
simple, but every member of our Order, man or woman...must proceed
through the craft degrees of Freemasonry, also those of high-grade
Freemasonry, before they can be illuminated and initiated members
of our Order." However, the United Grand Lodge of England,
to whom Crowley technically owed Masonic allegiance, objected to
the performance of the Craft Degrees in England outside of its
jurisdiction, and objected to the admission of women into Freemasonry.
Therefore, Crowley included the following statement in his Manifesto
of the MMM:

The O.T.O., although an Academia Masonica, is not a Masonic Body
so far as the craft degrees are concerned in the sense in which
that expression is usually understood in England; and therefore
in no way conflicts with, or infringes the just privileges of,
the United Grand Lodge of England.
On February 15, 1913, Crowley adopted a constitution for the MMM, subject to
the General Constitution of O.T.O. On March 19, 1913, Crowley and Reuss jointly
chartered James Thomas Windram (Mercurius, 1877-1939) as the O.T.O.'s official
representative in South Africa. Later in 1913, while visiting Moscow, Crowley
composed the Gnostic Mass, which he "prepared for the use of the O.T.O.,
the central ceremony of its public and private celebration, corresponding to
the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church."

C. S. Jones

World War I broke out on July 28, 1914. Crowley moved to New York
in October of 1914; the following year finding employment as a
writer for George Sylvester Viereck's periodicals The Fatherland
and The International, and as managing editor for the latter. In
December of 1914, Crowley appointed Charles Stansfeld Jones (Parzival,
1886-1950) as Sovereign Grand Inspector General VII° and Crowley's
personal representative in the City of Vancouver. In March of 1915,
Windram appointed Ernest W. T. Dunn VII° (Maximus) as Acting
Viceroy for Australasia.

Despite his earlier disclaimer about the Craft Degrees in the
Manifesto of the MMM, Crowley remained uncomfortable with the Masonic
character of the O.T.O., for a number of additional reasons:

In contrast with Reuss, Crowley believed that women could not
be initiated as Freemasons; though he thought that they ought to
be able to be initiated into O.T.O.
He was frustrated with the elaborate preparations required to stage Masonic
initiations, and with the length of the Masonic rituals and their excessive
wordiness. Crowley perceived these factors to be impediments to successful
implementation among modern working people.
He believed that the symbolic content of the Masonic rituals had become garbled
nearly to the point of uselessness.
He wished to use the system of O.T.O. to help spread the teachings of Thelema.
For these reasons, Crowley undertook to prepare revised rituals which would
convey the significance of the Craft and high degrees concisely and dramatically,
which would be suitable for the initiation of both men and women, which not
infringe on the just privileges of the United Grand Lodge of England, and which
would convey the basic teachings of Thelema. Crowley did so around 1915, and
adopted the revised rituals for use in his own section of O.T.O., the MMM.
Crowley wrote about his revised rituals to Arnold Krumm-Heller on June 22,
1930:

Reuss was in the habit of initiating people with the merest skeleton
rituals boiled down from those of Continental Masonry. There was,
to put it plainly, no order or decency in the proceeding. He realized
that perfectly well, and it was one of the reasons for his asking
me to reconstruct the whole system of initiation.
I made a comparative study of numerous rituals to which I had access, and produced
a series which were perfected up to and including the 6th degree (equivalent
to the Kadosh) and these were worked in London with the greatest success.

I must here pause to point out that the fundamental and essential
change which is necessary in any rituals with which I have anything
to do is the complete renunciation of the cult of the slave-gods.
It is impossible for free men to acknowledge any system which is
bound up with the fetishes of savages whose only motive for action
is the fear born of their ignorance.

In 1915 or 1916, Aleister Crowley wrote "An Intimation with
Respect to the Constitution of the Order" (Liber CXCIV), which
developed the ideas set forth in Reuss's 1906 O.T.O. Constitution,
Crowley's 1913 MMM Constitution, and in Crowley's Manifesto. Gérard
Encausse died on October 25, 1916. Charles Détré (Téder,
1855-1918) succeeded Encausse, and also appears to have received
the X° of O.T.O. for France, but he died only two years later.

In 1916, Reuss moved to Basle, Switzerland. While there, he established
an "Anational Grand Lodge and Mystic Temple" of O.T.O.
and the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light at Monte Verità. Monte
Verità was a utopian commune near Ascona founded in 1900
by Henri Oedenkoven and Ida Hofmann, which functioned as a center
for what the historian James Webb would later call the "Progressive
Underground."

On January 22, 1917, Reuss published a manifesto for this Anational
Grand Lodge, which was called Verità Mystica. On the same
date, he published a revised version of his 1906 O.T.O. Constitution,
with a "Synopsis of Degrees" and an abridgment of The
Message of the Master Therion appended. In his revised constitution,
Reuss included many of the provisions of Crowley's MMM Constitution
of 1913. However, in this document, as in many of Reuss's documents
about O.T.O., he emphasized the Masonic character of the Order.

In May of 1917, Crowley's Lodge in England was raided and closed
down by the police, allegedly over charges of "fortune telling" against
one of the members. However, Crowley's work for Viereck's anti-British
publication The Fatherland may have caused the authorities to suspect
Crowley's Lodge of unpatriotic activities. All Lodge records were
seized. Crowley was forced to temporarily resign the Grand Mastership
in favor of C.S. Jones to ease the situation for the remaining
members. The Lodge was never completely restored.

In Ascona, Reuss held an "Anational Congress for Organising
the Reconstruction of Society on Practical Cooperative Lines" at
Monte Verità from August 15-25, 1917. This Congress included
readings of Crowley's poetry (on August 22) and a recitation of
Crowley's Gnostic Mass (on August 24 -- for O.T.O. members only).
The announcement for this congress stated: "There are two
centres of the O.T.O., both in neutral countries, where enquiries
can be lodged by those interested in the aim of this congress.
One is at New York (U.S. of America), the other at Ascona (Italian
Switzerland)." Crowley was living in New York at the time;
so, evidently, he and Reuss were the only active National Heads
of O.T.O. in 1917.

Reuss had his secretary, "J. Adderley" (Isabel Adderley
Oedenkoven), send a copy of the announcement, along with a copy
of Crowley's Manifesto of the MMM, to the United Grand Lodge of
England, hoping that the Grand Lodge would send a representative.
It did not; but William Hammond, the Grand Lodge Librarian, wrote
to Reuss after the congress and asked for additional information.
During Reuss's correspondence with Hammond, Reuss reminded Hammond
that they had met in 1913/14, and Reuss had provided him with copies
of the Oriflamme and Crowley's Equinox, which, he said, "give
details about O.T.O."

Reuss was clearly impressed with Thelema. Crowley's Gnostic Mass,
which Reuss translated into German and had recited at his Anational
Congress at Monte Verità, is an explicitly Thelemic ritual.
In an undated letter to Crowley (received in 1917), Reuss reported
excitedly that he had read The Message of the Master Therion to
his group at Monte Verità, and that he was translating The
Book of the Law into German. He added, "Let this new encourage
you! We live in your Work!!!"

On October 24, 1917, Reuss issued a charter to Rudolf Laban de
Laban-Varalya (1879-1958) and Hans Rudolf Hilfiker-Dunn (1882-1955)
to operate a III° O.T.O. Lodge in Zurich, called Libertas et
Fraternitas. On November 3, 1917, de Laban became the Grand Master
of the Anational Grand Lodge Verità Mystica. Later that
month he closed Verità Mystica and moved his center of operations
to Zürich. In March of 1918, Crowley published the Gnostic
Mass in The International. Reuss published his German translation
of the Gnostic Mass the same year.

In a note at the end of his translation of the Gnostic Mass, Reuss
referred to himself as, simultaneously, the Sovereign Patriarch
and Primate of the Gnostic Catholic Church, and Gnostic Legate
to Switzerland of the Église Gnostique Universelle, acknowledging
Jean Bricaud (1881-1934) as Sovereign Patriarch of that church.
The issuance of this document can be viewed as the birth of the
Thelemic E.G.C. as an independent organization under the umbrella
of O.T.O., with Reuss as its first Patriarch.

World War I ended on November 11, 1918. De Laban left Switzerland
in November. In February of 1919, the Libertas et Fraternitas Lodge
dropped its O.T.O. connections and became strictly a Masonic Lodge.
It later became regularized under the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina.
Although no O.T.O. bodies remained in Switzerland, Reuss continued
to confer O.T.O. degrees upon individuals. While Reuss persisted
in asserting the Masonic authority of O.T.O., Crowley continued
to move MMM further from Freemasonry. In October of 1918, Crowley
prepared another substantial revision to the Order's initial rituals,
this time altogether abandoning the term "Masonry" and
the characteristic emblems, signs, grips, etc. of the Craft degrees.
He presented his revised rituals to Reuss for order-wide adoption.
In March of 1919, Crowley issued The Equinox, Volume III, No. 1
(the "Blue Equinox"), which contained a number of important
O.T.O. documents, including:

Liber LII: The Manifesto of the O.T.O.
Liber CXCIV: An Intimation With Respect to the Constitution of the Order
Liber CI: An Open Letter to Those Who May Wish to Join the Order
Liber CLXI: Concerning the Law of Thelema
a revised version of Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass.
Crowley's Liber LII: The Manifesto of the O.T.O. was based nearly word-for-word
on Crowley's 1912 Manifesto of the MMM. Thelemic salutations were added, references
to officers were updated, references to "guineas" were changed to
their equivalents in dollars, two names of contributing organizations were
deleted (The Rosicrucian Order and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn);
the table of fees and the photographs of Boleskine were deleted, the statement "It
[O.T.O.] does not in any way infringe the just privileges of duly authorized
Masonic Bodies" was added after the list of contributing organizations,
and the Masonic disclaimer quoted previously was changed to:

The O.T.O., although an Academia Masonica, is not a Masonic Body
so far as the `secrets' are concerned in the sense in which that
expression is usually understood; and therefore in no way conflicts
with, or infringes the just privileges of, the United Grand Lodge
of England, or any Grand Lodge in America or elsewhere which is
recognized by it.
On May 10, 1919, Reuss issued a Warrant to Hans Rudolph Hilfiker, Dr. E. Pargaetzi,
R. Merlitschek, and M. Bergmaier to form a Supreme Council of the Cernau Scottish
Rite for Switzerland in Zürich. On the same date, Reuss issued a "Gauge
of Amity" document to Matthew McBlain Thomson, founder of the ill-fated "American
Masonic Federation." The document recognized Thomson as a IX° member
of O.T.O. On September 18, 1919, Reuss was reconsecrated by Bricaud, thus receiving
the "Antioch Succession," and re-appointed as "Gnostic Legate" to
Switzerland for Bricaud's Église Gnostique Universelle.

Crowley returned to England in December of 1919. In 1920, Reuss
published his Program of Construction and Guiding Principles of
the Gnostic Neo-Christians: O.T.O. In this document, Reuss set
forth his ideas for a (highly regimented) utopian society. The
principles of this society were to be based on ideas from Thelema
(The Book of the Law and aphorisms of the Master Therion are quoted
and explained); along with more traditional ideas from Rosicrucianism,
Gnosticism, and Yoga; and the "progressive" socio-political
ideas prevalent at Monte Verità.

On July 17, 1920, Reuss attended the Congress of the "World
Federation of Universal Freemasonry," held at the Libertas
et Fraternitas Lodge in Zürich. This conference was intended
to take up the work of Papus's "International Masonic and
Spiritualist Conference" held in Paris in 1908. Reuss, with
Bricaud's authorization, advocated the adoption of the religion
of Crowley's Gnostic Mass as the "official religion for all
members of the World Federation of Universal Freemasonry in possession
of the 18° of the Scottish Rite." Reuss's efforts in this
regard were a failure, and he quarreled with Matthew McBlain Thomson
(who was elected Honorary President of the International Masonic
Federation) over jurisdictional issues. Reuss left the congress
after the first day.

C.S. Jones had resigned from O.T.O. in 1919, but had continued
to correspond with Reuss; and on May 10, 1921, Reuss chartered
Jones as X° for the "United States of North America." On
the same date, he chartered Heinrich Tränker (Recnartus, 1880-1956),
who headed several esoteric organizations within a movement termed "Pansophia," as
X° for Germany.

On July 30, 1921, Reuss issued another "Gauge of Amity" document,
this time to H. Spencer Lewis, the founder of A.M.O.R.C., the San
Jose, California based Rosicrucian organization. This document
also recognized Lewis as a VII° member of O.T.O. Crowley had
met Lewis previously in 1918 in New York, and was not impressed
with him. Reuss returned to Germany in September of 1921, settling
in Munich. On September 3, 1921, Reuss chartered Carl William Hansen
(Kadosh, 1872-1936) as X° for Denmark. In October of 1921,
upon Dunn's resignation, Crowley appointed Frank Bennett (Dionysus,
1868-1930) as his Viceroy to Australia.

Crowley's Succession
There is some reason to believe that Reuss suffered a stroke in the Spring
of 1920, but this is not entirely certain. Crowley wrote to W.T. Smith in
March of 1943:

the late O.H.O., after his first stroke of paralysis, got into
a panic about the work being carried on...He hastily issued honorary
diplomas of the Seventh Degree to various people, some of whom
had no right to anything at all and some of whom were only cheap
crooks.
Shortly after appointing him his Viceroy for Australia, Crowley appears to
have corresponded with Frank Bennett and discussed with him his doubts about
Reuss's continuing ability to effectively govern the Order. It would appear
that Reuss discovered the correspondence; he wrote Crowley an angry, defensive
response on November 9, 1921, in which he appeared to distance himself and
O.T.O. from Thelema, which, as shown above, he had previously embraced. Crowley
replied to Reuss's letter on November 23, 1921, and stated in his letter, "It
is my will to be O.H.O. and Frater Superior of the Order and avail myself of
your abdication -- to proclaim myself as such." He signed the letter "Baphomet
O.H.O." In a diary entry for November 27, 1921, Crowley wrote: "I
have proclaimed myself O.H.O. Frater Superior of the Order of Oriental Templars." Reuss
died on October 28, 1923 e.v.

In his Confessions, Crowley recounts that Reuss "resigned
the office [of O.H.O.] in 1922 in my favour." In a letter
to Heinrich Tränker dated February 14, 1925, Crowley stated
the following:

Reuss was very uncertain in temper, and in many ways unreliable.
In his last years he seems to have completely lost his grip, even
accusing The Book of the Law of communistic tendencies, than which
no statement could be more absurd. Yet it seems that he must have
been to some extent correctly led, on account of his having made
the appointments of yourself and Frater Achad, and designating
me in his last letter as his successor.
In a letter to Charles Stansfeld Jones dated Sun in Capricorn, Anno XX (Dec.
1924 - Jan. 1925), Crowley said, "in the O.H.O.'s last letter to me he
invited me to become his successor as O.H.O. and Frater Superior." Reuss's
letter designating Crowley his successor as O.H.O. has not been found, but
no credible documentation has surfaced which would indicate that Reuss ever
designated any alternative successor.

Aleister Crowley

O.T.O. Under Crowley
Aleister Crowley served as the Outer Head of the Order from 1922 until his
death in December of 1947. Crowley's first act as O.H.O. was to reconfirm
the charters of Jones and Tränker as Grand Masters for North America
and Germany, respectively. Tränker, on Jones's recommendation, invited
Crowley to formally assume leadership of O.T.O. as well as of the various
organizations included in the Pansophical movement, at a conference to be
held at Hohenleuben, near Weida, in the summer of 1925. The other attendees
of the conference were: Heinrich and Helene Tränker; Karl Germer (Saturnus,
Jan. 22, 1885 - Oct. 25, 1962), at the time Tränker's secretary and
publisher); Albin Grau; Eugen Grosche; Martha Künzel; Henri Birven;
a gentleman named Hopfer; Crowley; Crowley's associates Dorothy Olsen, Leah
Hirsig, Norman Mudd; and others.

The results of the conference were mixed. The attendees were divided
over Crowley's teachings and The Book of the Law, of which they
had previously been largely unaware (it had only recently been
translated into German). There were personality conflicts as well.
Fraulein Künzel and Herr Germer went with Crowley. Herrn Tränker,
Grau, Hopfer and Birven decided to keep the Pansophical Lodge independent
from the Master Therion. Herr Grosche originally sided with Crowley,
but he and Germer quarreled, and Grosche decided to remain independent.
After the closure of the Pansophical Lodge in 1926, Grosche regrouped
a number of the ex-Pansophists to found the Fraternitas Saturni.
Fraternitas Saturni recognized Crowley's status as a prophet, and
accepted the Law of Thelema in a modified form; but Grosche insisted
on keeping it independent from O.T.O. and under his own, rather
than Crowley's, authority. Fraternitas Saturni continues to the
present day in Germany, Canada and elsewhere, and does not represent
itself as being O.T.O.

Tränker apparently attempted to lay claim to the title of
O.H.O. of O.T.O. for himself in 1925, but it appears that he was
not widely recognized as such and that he ceased his efforts in
this direction by 1930, when he and H. Spencer Lewis began to work
together directly (but unsuccessfully) to establish a German branch
of A.M.O.R.C.

Agapé Lodge
Agapé Lodge No. 1 had been established in 1915 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada
under the authority of Jones and Crowley. In the 1930s, Wilfred Talbot Smith
(1885-1957), a charter member of Agapé Lodge No. 1, moved from Vancouver
on instructions from Crowley to work with Jane Wolfe (1875-1958), who had been
a student of Crowley's at Cefalu, to establish Agapé Lodge No. 2 in
Los Angeles, California. Smith and Wolfe gathered a group together in Hollywood,
California, and along with Regina Kahl (1891-1945), began to celebrate the
Gnostic Mass on a weekly basis on Sunday, March 19, 1933. Agapé Lodge
No. 2 held its first meeting in 1935. Agapé Lodge contributed greatly
to Crowley's publishing efforts, and Crowley appointed Smith (Ramaka) as X° for
the U.S.A. Later, Agapé Lodge No. 2 moved to Pasadena, California, and
was headed by John W. "Jack" Parsons (Belarion, 1914-1952), a respected
chemical engineer and aerospace pioneer. Parsons was instrumental in the founding
of both the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and of Aerojet General.

Karl Germer
When World War II broke out in 1939, international communications became increasingly
disrupted and civilian travel was limited. Crowley became very dependent
on foreign representatives, being unable to travel himself. Karl Germer,
Crowley's German representative, was arrested by the Gestapo and confined
in a Nazi concentration camp for "seeking students for the foreign resident,
high-grade Freemason, Crowley." Released early in the War through the
efforts of the American Consul, Germer traveled ultimately to the United
States, where, as Grand Treasurer General and Crowley's second in command,
he conducted much of the business of O.T.O. On March 14, 1942, Crowley wrote
to Germer: "I shall appoint you my successor as O.H.O. ... A complete
change in the structure of the Order, and in its methods is necessary. The
secret is the basis, and you must select the proper people." The other
European branches of O.T.O. were largely destroyed or driven underground
during the War. The Latin American branches of Krumm-Heller's F.R.A. maintained
a light contact with Germer until the early 1960s.

By the end of the Second World War in 1945, only Agapé Lodge
in Pasadena, California was still functioning. There were isolated
O.T.O. initiates in various parts of the world. Although Crowley
received visits from O.T.O. members in England, no Lodge work had
been conducted there since the police raid of 1917. Initiations
were very rare outside of California. Krumm-Heller in Mexico performed
no O.T.O. initiations, but sent a candidate, Dr. Gabriel Montenegro
(Frater Zopiron or Theophilos), to California for initiation.

Grady McMurtry
During the Second World War, two Californian O.T.O. members, Grady Louis McMurtry
(Oct. 18, 1918 - July 12, 1985) and Frederick Mellinger (Merlinus, 1890-1970)
(Mellinger was originally a refugee from Nazi Germany), traveled to Europe
on military assignments. McMurtry went earlier and visited Crowley on several
occasions while on leave. Mellinger visited Crowley after McMurtry was rotated
back to the United States.

There was a good rapport between Crowley and McMurtry, and Crowley
respected McMurtry's military experience. In 1943, Crowley personally
conferred the IX° of O.T.O. upon McMurtry and made him a Sovereign
Grand Inspector General of the Order, and gave him the Magical
Name he was to use from then on, Hymenaeus Alpha, 777.

In 1944, Crowley began discussing with McMurtry the possibility
of assuming the "Caliphate." Crowley wrote to McMurtry
on Sept. 28, 1944: "I hope you will prefer my plan for your
career as my Fides Achates, alter ego, Caliph, & so on." On
November 21, 1944, he wrote to McMurtry again:

`The Caliphate.' You must realize that no matter how closely we
see eye-to-eye on any objective subject, I have to think on totally
different premises where the Order is concerned. One of the (startling
few) commands given to me was this: `Trust not a stranger: fail
not of an heir.' This has been the very devil for me. Fr [Saturnus]
is, of course, the natural Caliph; but there are many details concerning
the actual policy or working which hit his blind spots. In any
case, he can only be a stopgap, because of his age; I have to look
for _his_ successor. It has been Hell; so many have come up with
amazing promise, only to go on the rocks. ... But -- now here is
where you have missed my point altogether -- I do not think of
you as lying on a grassy hillside with a lot of dear sweet lovely
woolly lambs, capering to your flute! On the contrary. Your actual
life, or `blooding,' is the sort of initiation which I regard as
the first essential for a Caliph. For -- say 20 years hence the
Outer Head of the Order must, among other things, have had the
experience of war as it is in actual fact to-day.
The title "Caliph," while perhaps appealing somewhat to the sense
of humor of both men as a pun on the abbreviation for California (the State
of McMurtry's residence and the location of Agapé Lodge), is from the
Arabic word Khalifa, meaning "deputy." It was historically used in
early Islam to designate the successor to the Prophet, the worldwide Commander
of the Islamic Faithful. Crowley's use of the term as applied to Germer and
McMurtry was parallel for O.T.O.

In 1946, Crowley entrusted McMurtry with documents of emergency
authorization to take charge of the entire work of the Order in
California, which included the only functional O.T.O. Body at the
time. Crowley additionally appointed McMurtry his personal representative
in the U.S.A., whose authority was to be considered as Crowley's
own. These two charters, dated respectively March 22, 1946 and
April 11, 1946, were subject only to Karl Germer's approval, veto
or revision. Germer was well informed of McMurtry's charters from
Crowley, as he had attended the Agapé Lodge meeting at which
McMurtry had presented them. In addition, in a letter to Germer
dated June 19, 1946, Crowley informed Germer that "The only
limitation on his [McMurtry's] power in California is that any
decision which he takes is subject to revision or veto by yourself," thus
removing the requirement for prior approval by Germer.

On June 6, 1947, Crowley wrote to Germer:

You seem in doubt too about the succession. There has never been
any question about this. Since your re-appearance you are the only
successor of whom I have ever thought since that moment. I have,
however, had the idea that in view of the dispersion of so many
members, you might find it useful to appoint a triumvirate to work
under you. My idea was Mellinger, McMurtry, and, I suppose, Roy
[Leffingwell], though I have always been a little doubtful about
the trustworthiness of the last.
On June 17, 1947, six months before his death, Crowley wrote to McMurtry and
informed him that while Germer was to be Crowley's successor as Head of O.T.O.,
McMurtry should hold himself prepared to succeed Germer.
Crowley, while trusting in Karl Germer's ability to govern the Order as his
successor, evidently did not trust in Germer's ability to find and designate
an appropriate successor for himself. In what appears to have been an additional
contingency measure in the event that McMurtry died or became incapacitated,
Crowley also advised Mellinger to hold himself ready as a possible successor
to Germer, in a letter dated July 15, 1947. However, Mellinger did not receive
any assignments of the kind given to McMurtry, and Crowley never used the term "Caliph" in
reference to Mellinger.

Karl and Sasha Germer

O.T.O. Under Germer
Crowley died on December 1, 1947; and in accord with his wishes Karl Germer
became O.H.O. of O.T.O., serving from late 1947 until his death in 1962.
Agapé Lodge continued in Southern California until 1949, after which
the Lodge ceased to hold regular meetings. The records of Agapé Lodge,
consisting of minutes of meetings, annotated copies of rituals, lists of
members initiated to various degrees in O.T.O., correspondence, and financial
records, were conserved by Jane Wolfe and various members of the Lodge.

Following Crowley's death, his will was probated and the executors
began receiving his property for shipment to Germer. Germer received
most of the materials from Crowley's estate and eventually took
them with him to his final home at Westpoint in Calaveras County,
California.

Germer was a quiet and reclusive man, and primarily interested
in publishing Crowley's writings. Several O.T.O. members helped
him with this, but, aside from promotion of those already initiated,
no new initiations were given. Germer notified McMurtry and others
that O.T.O. was to be incorporated and governed by a triumvirate
of officers, but this incorporation was never accomplished under
Germer's headship of O.T.O. Germer did charter an O.T.O. Camp in
England under Kenneth Grant, a III° member; but closed the
Camp and expelled Grant from O.T.O. membership on July 20, 1955
when he learned that Grant had become associated with Grosche's
Fraternitas Saturni, had circulated a manifesto for the a new Lodge
of O.T.O. under the joint authority of Germer and Grosche, and
had begun to modify the O.T.O. rituals, all without notice to Germer.

Germer also took an interest in the efforts of Hermann Metzger
(Paragranus, 1919-1990) in Switzerland. Metzger was a student of
a surviving member of Reuss's Swiss section of the O.T.O. named
Felix Lazerus Pinkus (1881-1947), but had no original connection
with Crowley's O.T.O. Germer appointed Mellinger to supervise Metzger's
regularization into Crowley's O.T.O., but Germer and Metzger fell
into disagreement toward the end of Germer's life. Frederic Mellinger
wrote after Germer's death that Metzger had failed to satisfy the
program of instruction set forth for Metzger by Germer under Mellinger's
tutelage. According to one source, Metzger claimed to have chartered
Gabriel Montenegro as X° for the United States. However, Montenegro
never claimed any such authority, and never even mentioned any
O.T.O. appointment from Metzger to his O.T.O. colleagues in the
U.S.

O.T.O. members in California actively sought to influence Germer
to reopen public access to O.T.O. Concern was expressed in correspondence
that a failure to initiate new O.T.O. members would result in the
ultimate demise of O.T.O. In 1959, McMurtry had called a meeting
in Los Angeles, to which members of Agapé Lodge and others
were invited, with the purpose of attempting to create a unified
front to pressure Karl Germer into resuming OTO initiations. McMurtry
was ready to invoke his authorizations from Crowley in support
of this idea. Dr. Montenegro opposed the idea, and the others failed
to lend any support; the idea was abandoned. Montenegro wrote to
McMurtry on Nov. 21, 1960 to memorialize his opposition to the
idea.

Germer authorized McMurtry to form a nucleus of new O.T.O. public
access, but Germer and McMurtry had a falling out over a personal
loan and other matters. Whatever differences they may have had,
there is not the slightest suggestion that Germer even considered
vetoing or revising McMurtry's charters from Crowley. McMurtry
lost his job in California due to health problems and moved to
Washington, D.C. in March of 1961. Here he taught Political Science
at George Washington University while working as a Management Analyst
for the U.S. Government. He also directed the Washington Shakespeare
Society.

Interregnum
Germer died on October 25, 1962 without having designated a successor. Germer's
last will and testament named his wife Sascha and Frederick Mellinger the
executors of his estate in the matter of property held for O.T.O. Sascha
was an elderly lady of less than sound mind, and cut herself off from the
surviving members of O.T.O. in California. Germer's estate was never probated.
Some ranking members, including Grady McMurtry, were not notified of Germer's
death for several years, causing a long delay before the question of succession
to leadership of O.T.O. was properly addressed.

Metzger in Switzerland published a claim to being the Outer Head
of the Order, based on a private election represented to have been
held in Switzerland on January 6, 1963. Ranking members of O.T.O.
outside of Switzerland, including Frederick Mellinger, whom Germer
had appointed as Metzger's mentor, were not informed of Metzger's
purported election until after the alleged fact. A copy of Metzger's
manifesto was sent to Wilfred Smith, who had been dead since 1957.
Metzger was not generally accepted as head of the Order outside
his own group. Sascha made a half-hearted attempt to send Germer's
O.T.O. property material to Metzger, but this was blocked by Mellinger
in a letter dated Sept. 25, 1963 which denounced Metzger as a fraud.
Metzger later incorporated his system of O.T.O. as part of a new
organization of his own formulation, the "Ordo Illuminatorum," which
purported to be a revival of the order of the Illuminati. Metzger
died in 1990.

Kenneth Grant (b. 1924) also asserted a claim to being Outer Head
of the Order; but he had previously been expelled from membership
by Germer. Mr. Grant disputes his expulsion, claiming that he never
recognized Karl Germer as head of O.T.O. However, Grant's own writings
from the 1950's, in particular the manifesto of New Isis Lodge,
refer to Frater S (Saturnus, i.e. Karl Germer) as the international
head of O.T.O. Grant's organization asserts that O.T.O. had ceased
to be a membership organization in its traditional sense of having
Lodges and conferring degrees ceremonially. Grant's organization
also ignores the Gnostic Mass, which is, according to Crowley, "the
central ceremony of [O.T.O.'s] public and private celebration."

Grady McMurtry

O.T.O. Under McMurtry
When McMurtry became aware of the critical condition into which the Order had
fallen after Germer's death, he was impelled to invoke his documents of emergency
authorization from Crowley, and assume the title "Caliph of O.T.O.," as
specified in Crowley's letters to McMurtry from the 1940s. For the two witnesses
he believed were necessary for this act, he chose Dr. Israel Regardie (1907-1985)
and Gerald Yorke (1901-1983). McMurtry referred to these two as the "Eyes
of Horus," as the two most prominent surviving personal students of
Crowley. He advised them of his plans to reconstitute the O.T.O. using his
letters of charter from Crowley, and requested their support, which was offered.
McMurtry completed the activation of his Caliphate by June of 1969, with
a letter to Hermann Metzger of Switzerland.

Upon activation of the Caliphate, surviving O.T.O. members from
the Germer and Crowley years were invited to join with McMurtry
to resume regular operations of O.T.O. At that time there were
less than a dozen surviving older O.T.O. members in the United
States. Soror Meral, Soror Grimaud, Mildred Burlingame and Gabriel
Montenegro indicated willingness to see the O.T.O. accessible to
the general public. Ray Burlingame had died some years before,
and Dr. Montenegro died on July 14, 1969, before an organizational
meeting could be held. Frederick Mellinger had re-established his
contacts with the Theosophical Society and had been essentially
inactive in O.T.O. since approximately 1956, except to write his
letter blocking the probate of Germer's will in favor of Metzger
in 1963. Mellinger died on August 29, 1970. In 1969 and 1970, McMurtry,
Burlingame and Sorores Meral and Grimaud began to perform initiations.
On December 28, 1971, the Ordo Templi Orientis Association was
registered with the State of California to form a legal entity
for O.T.O.

Sascha Germer died in April of 1975, and in 1976 when her death
became known, the O.T.O. Association under McMurtry obtained a
court order for delivery of the remnant of the O.T.O. archives
that had been in her custodianship. This order was issued, recognizing
Grady McMurtry as the authorized representative of O.T.O., by the
Superior Court in Calaveras County, California, and filed July
27th, 1976.

Under McMurtry, as Caliph or acting Head of O.T.O., several attempts
were made to attract new members to O.T.O. and to make the Order
known to the public. In 1970, O.T.O. published Crowley's Thoth
Tarot Cards, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, from the Dublin
address. Response was slow, but a few new members were initiated
through efforts centered in Dublin, California at The College of
Thelema and in San Francisco at the Kaaba Clerk House. The San
Francisco activity collapsed, and one new member resigned. Activity
continued for two years in Dublin, and then was transferred to
Berkeley, California.

In 1977, McMurtry held O.T.O. initiations at his home in Berkeley,
California, and began a group there. O.T.O. was incorporated under
the laws of the State of California on March 26th, 1979 e.v. Those
who had claimed in print to be O.T.O. members or who were known
to be former members were notified of the formation of this corporation,
and given a period of time to file a claim to continued membership,
according to a precedent established earlier by Karl Germer. The
corporation attained Federal Tax exemption as a religious entity
under IRS Code 501(c)3 in 1982.

Challenge in Court
A substantial effort was made to assume control of O.T.O. by Marcelo Ramos
Motta (1931-1987) under the name "Society Ordo Templi Orientis." Mr.
Motta had been a personal AA student of Karl Germer for a number of years,
but had never formally obtained a charter to Initiate or operate a Lodge.
In fact, he had never even been formally initiated into O.T.O. After Germer's
death, Motta asserted a claim to being Germer's successor, and formed an
O.T.O. group in his native country of Brazil. Motta at first recognized Kenneth
Grant as head of O.T.O., but rescinded this recognition on learning that
Grant had been expelled by Germer. Motta ultimately came to the United States
to claim the Crowley copyrights. He first sued Samuel Weiser, Inc., a publisher
of many of Crowley's works, for copyright and trademark infringement; maintaining
that he was the sole representative of Crowley's O.T.O. This case was decided
in Weiser's favor by the U.S. District Court in Maine. The Judge found that
Motta's representations regarding O.T.O. did not meet the test of legal existence.
O.T.O. under McMurtry was not a party to this case, and did not factor in
the judgment.

During the proceedings in Maine, O.T.O. under McMurtry served
Motta with a suit to be heard in the 9th Federal District Court
in San Francisco. The San Francisco case was concluded in 1985,
with Motta again losing. O.T.O. under McMurtry was recognized by
the Court to be the continuation of the O.T.O. of Aleister Crowley,
and the exclusive owner of the names, trademarks, copyrights and
other assets of O.T.O. McMurtry was found to be the legitimate
head of O.T.O. within the United States. The 9th District decision
also recognized O.T.O. under McMurtry as a legal membership entity.
This decision was appealed and upheld. Grady McMurtry died on July
12, 1985, following the original decision of the 9th District Court,
but the process of appeal established that O.T.O. continued as
a corporation.

O.T.O. Today
Rather than designate his own successor, McMurtry desired that his successor
be chosen by vote of the Sovereign Sanctuary of O.T.O. after his death. The
election was held on September 21, 1985, with the two surviving members of
Agapé Lodge participating, and Frater Hymenaeus Beta was elected to
succeed Frater Hymenaeus Alpha as Caliph and acting O.H.O. of O.T.O. Hymenaeus
Beta continues in office to this day.

In early 1996, a new corporation was founded to carry on the work
of the U.S. Grand Lodge of O.T.O, while the existing corporation
reorganized itself as the International Headquarters of O.T.O.
On March 30, 1996, Sabazius X° was appointed as National Grand
Master General for the U.S. Grand Lodge.

Notes
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light was a mystical society which claimed descent
from the late 18th century Austrian Masonic/Rosicrucian body known as the
Fratres Lucis. The Fratres Lucis, also known as the Asiatic Brethren or Initiated
Brethren of the Seven Cities in Asia, was derived from the earlier German
Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross. The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light also
appears to have had connections with the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, which
was a mystical society which surfaced publicly in England in 1884 under the
auspices of Max Theon (AKA Louis-Maximilian Bimstein, 1850-1927). The origins
of the H.B. of L. are unclear, but there is some evidence linking it with
the Brotherhood of Luxor, which was involved in the founding of the Theosophical
Society as well as with the aforementioned Fratres Lucis; and with the latter's
19th century English spiritualist namesake.
Born in Poland, Theon travelled widely in his youth. In Cairo, he became a
student of a Coptic magician named Paulos Metamon. Theon came to England in
1870, where he recruited the violin-maker Peter Davidson (1842-1916) to establish
an "Outer Circle" of the H.B. of L. They were joined in 1883 by Thomas
H. Burgoyne (AKA Thomas Dalton, 1855-1895), who later wrote a book summarizing
the basic teachings of the H.B. of L., titled The Light of Egypt. The function
of this "Outer Circle" of the H.B. of L. was to offer a correspondence
course on practical occultism; which set it apart from the Theosophical Society.
Its curriculum included a number of selections from the writings of Hargrave
Jennings and Paschal Beverly Randolph.
P.B. Randolph (Oct. 8, 1825 - July 29, 1875) was a noted medium, healer, occultist
and author of his day, and counted among his personal friends Abraham Lincoln,
Hargrave Jennings, Kenneth McKenzie, Eliphas Levi, Napoleon III, Edward Bulwer-Lytton,
and General Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Randolph's Order claimed descent from the
Rosicrucian Order (by charter of the "Supreme Grand Lodge of France"),
and taught spiritual healing, western occultism and principals of race regeneration
through the spirtualization of sex.
Yarker was elected Absolute Sovereign Grand Master of the Oriental Rite of
Mizraim in 1871. He was installed as Grand Master 96° of the Sovereign
Sanctuary of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Memphis for England by Harold
J. Seymour on Oct. 8, 1872. Seymour had in turn received his letters-patent
from Jacques Etienne Marconis de Negre on June 21, 1862. Yarker received letters-patent
for the Cerneau Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite from Theo. H. Tebbs of the
Combined Canadian S.G.C. of that Rite on January 12, 1884. Yarker was elected
Imperial Grand Hierophant 97° of the Rite of Memphis on November 11, 1902.
Those attending the congress were: Reuss (representing the Sov. Sanctuary of
Memphis and Mizraim Rites for Germany, Grand Orient of the Scottish Rite in
Germany, and the National Grand Lodge of the United Scottish, Memphis and Mizraim
Rites for Great Britain and Ireland); H.R. Hilfiker, R. Merlitschek, and M.
Bergmaier (representing the Grand Orient of the Scottish Rite in Switzerland
[based on a Reuss Charter dated May 10, 1919]), Dr. E. Pargaetzi (representing
the Sov. Sanctuary of the Scottish, Memphis and Mizraim Rites for France);
A. Spilmer (representing the Grand Lodge of Colombia), H. Schütz (representing
Prince Alexander of Greece, Grand Protector of Greek Freemasonry); John Anderson
(representing the National Grand Lodge of Scotland); and Matthew McBlain Thomson
(representing the American Masonic Federation, the Grand Lodge of Washington,
D.C., and the Grand Orient of Cuba).